


May the 8th Be with You

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [240]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6833086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mother's Day in Princeton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	May the 8th Be with You

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Emila-Wan and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting to the Master Apprentice ML  
> Travis for posting to the Master Apprentice Archive on AO3  
> Alex for inspiring Arcadia
> 
> References:  
> [Alchemist & Barrister](http://www.theaandb.com/)  
> [A Symposium on Character](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1907907)  
> [Princeton Pleasures](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1953021)  
> [Christmas in Williamsburg (Revised)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4276173)  
> [What A Wonderful World Lyrics - Louis Armstrong](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/louis+armstrong/what+a+wonderful+world_20085347.html)
> 
> Motherly Arcadias:  
> [Please Call First](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1416967)  
> [Mother's Day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798033)  
> [A Mother's Gaze](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2272752)  
> [A Personal Letter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4209192)  
> [The Power of Words](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4260099)
> 
> To Carol

*Ring* *Clickety-clack* *Screech*

A high-pitched whirring, clicking, whining, and ringing series of sounds interrupted Ginny, just as she was about to answer a question from Quinn.

Ian burst out laughing. Already a little punchy from staying up most of the night grading 124 final exams, he somehow found the situation hilarious and began to giggle-snort, even though they were in public.

It was a few minutes after 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Mother's Day Sunday, and the professors and their parents were celebrating at 'The Alchemist and Barrister', a restaurant on Witherspoon Street in Princeton, New Jersey. The eatery was a couple of blocks away from The Nassau Inn, where Ian and Quinn had stayed when they'd presented their lectures on 'The Charioteer' by Mary Renault, back in 2007. They'd come here for lunch during the conference and had enjoyed it immensely.

They'd surprised their moms by taking them here, the professors in Ian's Audi Gallia, and the others in the Prentices' ten-month-old blue Audi Q8. Ginny and Jo had expected to celebrate someplace closer to home and were delighted at the unexpected treat. The ladies were also happy that their men had chosen to take them to lunch; at dinnertime on Mother's Day, all of the fancy restaurants were filled to the rafters, and even with a reservation, the waiting time was much longer than usual.

The building was over two hundred years old and reminded Ian of Christiana Campbell's Inn in Colonial Williamsburg, with the same age-softened ambience. The round table they were seated at was made of dark cherrywood and was positioned by an open window, which coincidentally showcased a cherry tree in bloom. Quinn had seated himself so that he had an unobstructed view of the tree, with Ian beside him, and their folks flanking them.

They were celebrating the holiday in early May this year, even though it usually took place a couple of weeks later. So there was a chill in the air, which you could see by looking at their outfits. Jo and Ginny were wearing pretty pastel cardigans over their dresses, while the men were kept warm by jackets, which they wore with ties to honor the ladies. Quinn had unconsciously thrown an arm over his laddie's shoulders, which made them both even warmer.

They all missed Monty's little family this afternoon, since they were spending the day with Kathy's parents in Connecticut. At least, the whole gang had gotten together yesterday at the Prentices' home in Padua, so they'd all been able to celebrate together then.

The entire table started to laugh along with Ian when they heard those amazing sound effects coming from his father-in-law's general direction, and no one could get a word in edgewise over the din. John had just gotten a pair of new hearing aids, and they were fast becoming part of the chatter, not to mention replacing it. John was having trouble following the thread of the conversation because the Eyslee Band was playing a never-ending set of jazz riffs a couple of yards away. They usually performed only in the evening but began to play early today because of the special occasion. But what was intended as a pleasant background melody had overwhelmed his family's voices for John. In frustration, he had started to fiddle with the fine-tuning control button, and this had produced the impromptu cacophony.

Ian thought fancifully of R2-D2's clicks and whistles while he listened to his father-in-law trying to change the volume on his hearing aid. Aside from Quinn and Ian, who had all but Force-enhanced senses, Jo had the best hearing in the family. So Ian winced in sympathy when he noticed that she was covering her ears and grimacing. When John saw her do that, as well, he finally gave up and took the devices out of his ears before dropping them into his pocket.

"Sorry about that," John said sheepishly. "I'd better make an appointment with the audiologist tomorrow and get them recalibrated."

"Thank you," Jo said with relief.

John said, "It's the first pair I've ever owned, and I'm still getting the hang of it."

Ginny patted his hand, saying, "You'll get used to it soon." She couldn't resist adding, "And then I'll finally be able to lower the volume on our T.V." She sounded just as relieved as Jo was.

Quinn shared their relief; he'd been planning to invite the family back to their home in Alder Run after lunch but had been reconsidering it because of Artoo and Sandy. If the whistling sounds of the hearing aids were driving humans out of their minds, he could imagine how much worse it would be for the pups, what with their acute sensitivity to sound. Now that John had given up on the hearing aids until they could be tweaked, he could invite everybody over, especially since he'd already cleared it with Ian.

After that dicey start, the rest of the meal went smoothly. Just as for Valentine's Day, Ian had checked out the holiday menu online before making reservations here. They chose from a variety of temptations, like Shepherd's Pie and Irish Pub Lamb stew, his and Quinn's picks for the main course. Their moms both chose the broiled salmon special, while their dads went for Bleu Cheese Burgers. The professors decided on Black and Tans to wash their meal down and were looking forward to the tang of Bass Ale, layered beneath their beloved Guinness Stout.

Quinn gave a look at his pint glass as he took the first swallow, and his thoughts were just as fanciful as his lad's earlier musings on the beeps and clicks of R2-D2.

He mused that the swirl of the Guinness mimicked the swirl of Jedi robes, while the tan underneath reminded him of the Order's tunics and leggings.

His reverie came to an abrupt end when the waiter brought their glasses of water and drinks from the bar, along with bread and olive oil. Ah, yes, he remembered the four different kinds of rolls from the first time he and his lad had eaten here. He picked out a garlic-cheese roll and dipped it in the oil, coating the bread with the herbs swimming in the dish.

"After lunch, would everyone like to come back to Alder Run with us?" asked Quinn.

"Oh, that would be lovely," Jo answered.

Ginny said, "I'd enjoy it very much."

When their husbands nodded with enthusiasm, it was unanimous. Ian grinned over at Quinn; he knew two big boxes of Godiva chocolates were waiting for their moms on the pie-crust table by the front door.

"I just got the sheet music for 'What a Wonderful World' and thought it would be perfect for today," Ian said. "What do you think? Quinn on guitar and me on piano -- a little holiday serenade?"

"And we hope everybody will join in," Quinn added, eyes twinkling as he thought of his father's previous attempts to sing on key.

All four parents agreed with eagerness, so that was settled. And when their folks had left for the day, Ian and Quinn had a surprise for two more ladies, who treated them like grandsons. They had ordered bouquets of white roses for Violet and Prudence and planned to visit them this evening.

Their waiter brought over their entrees, and just as effectively as the hearing aid snafu, that brought an end to the conversation again. They dug in with relish, because all of them hadn't eaten since an early breakfast. Ian and Quinn, of course, negotiated high-level trades, so each ended up with both stew and Shepherd's Pie. And it was also inevitable that Quinn blended the stew and pie together, to make a delicious new dish, which Ian just had to taste.

When Ian swiped a spoonful from his plate, Quinn couldn't resist a caress to his lad's cheek, before Ian took a bite of it. If they hadn't been looking at each other, they would have seen their folks smiling over at them fondly. The older couples were also as demonstrative as 40+ years of marriage had made them.

When the main course was finished, their waiter came around with dessert menus, which all of them studied intently. Ginny ordered first, opting for vanilla-bean cheesecake with Chambord sauce, followed by Jo, who chose chocolate mousse. Ian and Quinn decided to split a slice of banana cake with coconut icing, and their dads wanted Rocky Road and Mud Pie ice cream.

As soon as the desserts arrived, there was more high-level trading, from all of them this time. So they all ended up with fanciful, hybrid treats, like cheesecake with a dollop of mousse decorating it, and banana cake a la mode, with Rocky Road ice cream melting on top of it. Even the moms were children, when it came to dessert.

"Okay, now I have to find the best recipe for banana cake," Ginny said after taking a bite.

"We'll be your taste-testers," Quinn said with happy anticipation, while visions of layer cake were dancing in his head.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Keith said, mimicking Bob Newhart's dry delivery.

At the end of the meal, Ian discreetly picked up the check, which led to Keith saying, "Hey, you guys do it all the time," to Quinn and Ian.

Luckily, the professors were able to keep a straight face at Keith's unintentional pun, and it looked like no one else at the table even noticed it, or so they hoped. Talk about being embarrassed by your parents!

Now that the food was cleared away and the table de-crumbed by their diligent waiter, it was time to give Ginny and Jo their gifts. Ian handed Jo a small package, festively decked out in cream-colored wrapping paper, with a lavender silk tulip adorning it. At the same time, Quinn handed Ginny a present that looked like a twin to Jo's but with pale green wrapping paper and a white silk rose.

The men had decided to get their moms identical gifts this year, since they were so happy with their choice. They grinned at each other and at their mothers when they heard their gasps of delight. Peeking from the tissue paper were Aldera watches, complete with presentation boxes. The ladies immediately took them out and found the inscriptions in back on the casing in record time. Both of them were also identical on purpose:

'Our love to you always, your sons'

This was engraved in tiny script, but it packed a big emotional punch for Ginny and Jo. Their eyes sparkled with unshed tears as their boys came around the table to give them bear hugs.

Then a couple of gentlemanly husbands put the watches on their wives' wrists for the first time, adjusting the brown leather straps carefully. Oohs and aahs and 'thank yous' were the only conversation for the next little while, as the women turned their wrists to see their new watches glinting in the candlelight.

The professors were particularly happy at this reaction, not only because they'd pleased their moms, but the Aldera watches were a family tradition for them. Back in 2003, in Colonial Williamsburg, Ian had given Quinn an Aldera watch of his own for Christmas, and not only did he still use it, but it was on his wrist right now.

Quinn held it up for Ginny and Jo to see, and the ladies positively beamed at him.

"You've always had good 'timing', fellas," said Jo, and Quinn could see where his laddie had gotten his talent with a quip from.

Of course, Ian could not just leave it there, and said, "That's because we wanted you to have a good 'time' today."

Everyone was too happy to groan after that marvelous meal, with even better company.

Chuckling as she thought of Mardi Gras festivities, Ginny said, "In our family, 'Let the good times roll' sounds like a fine motto."

All of them could do nothing but agree, while another wonderful Mother's Day celebration continued on its merry way.


End file.
